API Reference

.. _api_reference:

API Reference

.. meta:: :description: Explore the features of Python, C, C++, and Node.js APIs in the Intel® Distribution of OpenVINO™ Toolkit.

.. toctree:: :maxdepth: 2 :hidden:

ie_python_api/api OpenVINO Runtime C++ API <c_cpp_api/group__ov__cpp__api> OpenVINO Runtime C API <c_cpp_api/group__ov__c__api> OpenVINO Node.js API <nodejs_api/nodejs_api> GenAI Python API <genai_api/api>

OpenVINO toolkit offers APIs for Python, C, C++, and JavaScript which share most features (C++ being the most comprehensive one), have a common structure, naming convention styles, namespaces, and no duplicate structures.

OpenVINO API may be described by the following:

• Preserves input element types and order of dimensions (layouts), and stores tensor names from the original models (Model Conversion API).
• Uses tensor names for addressing, which is the standard approach among the compatible model frameworks.
• Can address input and output tensors by the index. Some model formats like ONNX are sensitive to the input and output order, which is preserved by OpenVINO.
• Includes :doc:properties <../openvino-workflow/running-inference/inference-devices-and-modes/query-device-properties>, unifying metrics and configuration key concepts. The main advantage is that they have the C++ type: static constexpr Property<std::string> full_name{"FULL_DEVICE_NAME"};